Maharashtra govt official donates entire month's salary to CM fund

Preeti Shankar Velhekar, who is currently in charge of the Chandrapur District Rural Development Agency, decided to donate her entire salary from the month of April to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for COVID-19. Velhekar wanted to contribute to help the needy in this hour of crisis.

Chandrapur (Maharashtra): In a commendable move, a female government official in Maharashtra's Chandrapur donated her entire salary amount for the month of April to the Chief Minister's relief fund for combating COVID-19.

Preeti Shankar Velhekar, who is employed as en extension officer in the Zilla Parishad for the past ten years, is currently in charge of the District Rural Development Agency.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, for the first time ever, all government, barring essential services, remained shut for the entire month of April.

Though states government have been struggling in the absence of revenue flow amidst the pandemic, the full salary for April was credited to the accounts of all employees regardless of whether their offices remained functional or not.

At the same time, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the financially capable people to contribute to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. While most people took this appeal with a pinch of salt, Velhekar decided to step forward.

If we didn't work in April, why should we take this salary, she wondered. She then took the decision to donate her salary in order to help the needy.

Velhekar then handed over the salary cheque of Rs 55,453 to district collector Dr Kunal Khemnar, who appreciated the officer's kind thought.

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